I Promise
by blackXroseXdying
Summary: Kenny likes to watch the sunset. This greatly annoys his drunk father.  M for child abuse and character death.
1. Sunset

**I Promise**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own South Park  
>I think this is probably a little OOC but I think it works anyway<strong>

**Chapter One: Sunset**

**Kenny's POV  
><strong>Tonight started out like any other night. With me sitting on the roof of my house watching the sunset. It was the only time of day when I felt like everything was going to be alright, but then the sun would completely disappear below the horizon and I would come crashing back to earth and realize that nothing would be alright at all and I'd slip down the tiles, over the guttering and back into my bedroom through the open window.  
>Tonight however, when I went to slide back into my room, the window was shut. I crouched on the small window sill and tried to see in through the gap in the curtains and into my room, but it was useless; it was too dark.<br>I turned back and got ready to jump to the ground, and I heard the window open and then a hand reached out and grabbed the hood of my jumper and dragged me backwards through the now open window.  
>I landed on my back on the dirty carpet and stared up at the man I was supposed to call my father. He stood there with a beer in his hand and one foot pressed into my throat. Anytime I moved, he would press his foot harder against my neck, cutting off my air supply.<br>"What were you doing out there, you little shit?" he growled after a few moments of silence.  
>"Watching the sunset." I managed to breathe out before the foot was crushed back against my windpipe. There was no point in lying to him; the punishment would be 10 times worse when he found out the truth.<br>"What are you, a girl? Only girls and faggots watch he sunset; you a faggot, boy?"  
>I didn't have enough breath to talk so I just shook my head. He growled again and pulled me up by my hair.<br>"I will not have a faggot for a son, and this town does not need to be infected with your disease." He spat in my face.  
>I didn't say anything as I saw something snap behind his eyes and his expression changed. It wasn't a big change at first, but it was just enough to notice. He started to look crazy…insane actually, and I tried to get out of his grip but it was too tight. He grinned manically at me and I started to fear for my life as he dragged me down the stairs. The house was empty and when he pushed the door to the basement open I knew what was going to happen. My friend's wouldn't notice if I didn't turn up for games night and Mom, Karen and Kevin were nowhere to be seen.<br>He smashed something over my head and my vision went white as I was thrown down the stairs on to the cold concrete floor below and I passed out.

I woke up to a burning sensation in my travelling through my body and I opened my eyes to see my father standing over me, a knife in his hand and he was carving something into my side. It started just under my arm and went all the way down to my hip. There was too much blood for me to see what it said.  
>"Wanna know what it says?" he said in my ear and then boiling hot water was poured over me and I bit my lip to stop from screaming. I would not give this monster the satisfaction of him knowing the pain had affected me so badly.<br>I looked down at my side and saw the word 'FAGGOT' carved into the skin. I nearly screamed again as a steal capped boot was kicked into my spine several times, but I stayed as still and silent as possible.  
><em>'Kill me now, please, just end it and kill me now.' <em>I thought as the toe of the boot started to kick at the lacerations in my side.  
>For what felt like hours, he alternated between cutting into my flesh, pouring boiling hot water onto the wounds and then kicking them and eventually I couldn't take it anymore and I started to slip out of consciousness.<br>"No boy, you stay awake!" he screamed and jabbed a needle into the crease of my elbow. I felt the liquid spread through my veins and into my heart and my eyes flew open. I felt like I could fly, like I could run for days without stopping. I was wide awake and I could feel every part of my body that had been cut, burnt and kicked. Fucking adrenaline shot!  
>"It appears that I've run out of space on my canvas, but I still have so much I want to put down. Maybe I can overlap a few parts." He said and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. He ran the flame along the blade of the knife until it was white hot and brought the blade down and started slashing at parts of my skin that were already ripped open and bleeding.<br>Just as he was about to plunge the blade into my chest, the basement door burst open and bounced loudly off the wall, making my father turn around.  
>Standing in the doorway was my best friend, and the guy I consider my brother, Craig Tucker.<br>"Oh, look at that, your little boyfriend's here to save the day." The knife plunged into my chest and stomach several times before my vision started to go black and a loud bang went off somewhere in the distance. The blade was slammed into my chest between two of my ribs and a dead weight fell on my legs.  
>There were footsteps thundering down the wooden stairs and then the weight was lifted off my legs and a warm hand was placed on my cheek.<br>"Shit, Kenny, stay with me. I'm gonna take you to the hospital." Craig said, voice cracking slightly.  
>I shook my head furiously as he pulled the knife out and tossed it across the room before he tried to lift me up off the ground.<br>"I'm not leaving you here to die. I can't!"  
>"It's okay. 'm nearly…dead…doesn't matter." I was aware I couldn't form proper sentences, but I hoped I was getting my point across.<br>"I don't care if you're nearly dead, I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure you don't die. And you do matter, maybe not to that asshole, but to me you do."  
>I felt him pick me up in his arms and he drew in a deep breath. I only vaguely heard him say something before I passed out.<p>

**Craig's POV  
><strong>"Fuck you're so cold Kenny. I'm taking you to the hospital; I don't care what you say." I felt his body go limp in my arms and looked down to see him unconscious and I added in a whisper, "No, shit, Kenny. Please, just stay with me a little longer."  
>I pulled him closer against my chest and walked carefully up the stairs through the house and outside. It was raining and I half ran to my pick up truck and slid Kenny carefully on to the bench seat and climbed in next to him. I closed the door and he flinched but didn't wake up. I put my arm around his shoulders and pulled him into my side as I started the engine and reversed out of the driveway.<br>I put the car into drive and flattened the accelerator to the floor, trying to make it go faster.  
>"Come on!" I growled at the car, even though I knew it was pointless.<br>I got to the hospital 10 minutes later and pulled Kenny out of the car with me, closing the door with my hip. I ran across the parking lot and into the emergency room.  
>"Someone help me, please!" I yelled and a nurse ran over wheeling a gurney. A doctor followed soon after.<br>The nurse tried to pry Kenny out of my arms, but he curled further into me and clutched onto my jacket.  
>"Kid, you have to let go so we can help you." The doctor said.<br>"He can't hear you. Let me carry him to wherever we need to go." I said. It was meant to be a question but it came out as a statement. I knew Kenny wouldn't let them take him from me.  
>"Okay, if that's what it takes. Follow me."<br>We walked for a few minutes down several long corridors and then into a colder, brighter white room.  
>"I'm gonna put you down now, but I'm gonna stay here, okay? I'm not going anywhere." I said even though I knew he couldn't hear me.<br>"Sir, unless you're related to this young man, you cannot stay here." The nurse said.  
>"I'm not going anywhere. I'm his best friend and the closest thing he's got to family right now and I'm not leaving him."<br>"Well we need to tend to these wounds and check for any internal bleeding and injuries. We'll have to take him into the operating room, you can either wait here or in the waiting room."  
>"I'm staying with him." I said again, grabbing Kenny's hand and squeezing it tightly. I waited until the doctor nodded and then gave his hand one last squeeze.<br>I let go as they wheeled him out of the room, around several corners and finally into operating room.  
>I grabbed Kenny's hand again. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise." I kissed his forehead and moved across the room to sit in the chair in the corner.<br>That was the only condition of me being in the room. I wasn't allowed to get in the way.  
>An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and his eyes opened a little as he shook his head trying to shake it off.<br>"Craig…'m sorry." He whispered before his eyes slipped closed again


	2. Goodbye

**Chapter Two: Goodbye  
>Disclaimer: Don't own South Park or the Black Veil Brides Song that's mentioned<strong>

**Craig's POV  
><strong>I stood in front of the mirror fixing my tie. It was bright orange; Kenny's favourite colour. I pulled on the jacket of my black suit and closed my wardrobe door as Stan poked his head into my room.  
>"Time to go Craig." He said sadly and I nodded, looking at the ground.<br>I walked outside to where the rest of the boys were standing around Sharon's minivan all dressed exactly like me; black suit and bright orange tie. They all had the same pale sad faces and dark circles under their eyes as I did; clearly they hadn't been sleeping well either. I haven't slept much since the night Kenny dies. I relive that night minute of everyday. It feels more real when I'm asleep though, almost like it's happening again.  
>I climbed into the back of the van after everyone else and leaned my head against the window, watching the snow fall we drove to the cemetery. We pulled onto the gravel driveway and rounded the corner. The car stopped and we all filed out. I tried to walk over to where I could see the outline of chairs set up by the grave, but my feet wouldn't move.<br>"Come on Craig, I know it's hard, but…well, he'll be back. He is Kenny after all." Kyle said and walked off.  
>"I know Craig, I can feel it too." I looked around and saw Stan standing next to me. "He's not coming back this time."<br>I shook my head as I felt tears well up in my eyes.  
>"He's Kenny. He's not supposed to die. Not forever." I managed to whisper out before the tears became too much.<br>Stan wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into a hug, one hand on the back of my head, trying to calm me down a bit. I clutched onto the front of his suit and sobbed into his shoulder. I wasn't used to feeling so much emotion at once and it hurt too much to hold in. I calmed down several minutes later and pulled away from Stan. I wiped my eyes and stared at him. He was looking back at me questioningly. I looked back up the hill at Kenny's grave and nodded my head.  
>Stan linked his fingers with and we walked up the hill and stood up the front but to the side. I saw Kenny's little sister Karen sitting in the chair next to where I was standing and I crouched down next to her.<br>"Hey Kaz." I said, calling her the name that only me and Kenny were allowed to call her.  
>She looked away from the coffin and stared at me. There was tears pouring down her face and when she saw me she started sobbing and threw her arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. I hugged her back and tried to comfort her as best as I could. The Priest soon began speaking and I stood up, holding Karen and Stan's hands for comfort.<br>I finally made myself look at the coffin as it was being lowered into the ground. It was made of dark oak wood and the words R.I.P Kenneth McCormick were engraved into the wood and painted a gold colour.  
>"Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust…" I zoned out of the Priest's speech and stared at the open grave. I could feel tears pouring down my face and a small hand was squeezing mine. I looked to my left and saw Karen staring up at me. She was holding a bunch of orange flowers and nodding her head pointedly at the coffin. I nodded back and me and her walked up the grave. We both dropped the flowers on top of the coffin and she let out a sob and squeezed my hand again.<br>A son started playing as we walked back to where Kenny's mum was sitting and I realized the song was Saviour by Black Veil Brides…a sad enough song and by one of Kenny's favourite bands. I stood in front of Kenny's mom and she stood up.  
>"I'm sorry for everything Ms. McCormick. For Kenny…and for nearly killing your husband." I said.<br>"Ex-husband. He's in jail now where he belongs and right now I'm waiting for the divorce papers to go through. I'm not going to be married to a monster. As for Kenny…the doctor and the nurse told me everything. I'm surprised he even made it into the operating room in the state they said he was in. You got there in time to give him a few more minutes on this earth. So thank you Craig, for everything." She reached her arms out and hugged me.  
>I hugged her quickly back and when she let go, Karen gave my hand one last squeeze before taking her mother's hand and walking to the edge of the rave where the dirt had finally been over the top.<br>I walked back over to where my friends where standing behind the crowd of people and stood next to Stan, taking his hand again.  
>"Looks like you've been crying Tucker." Cartmen smirked.<br>"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you lose a family member." I replied and looked back over at the grave. Most people were walking away from it now and going back to their cars.  
>I could practically see Karen begging her mom to let her stay just a while longer. She eventually nodded and then walked up to us.<br>"I know you boys will be here for a while, would you mind bringing Karen home when you leave?" I nodded once and she smiled before walking away.  
>"He's gonna come back Tucker." Kyle said, putting a hand on my shoulder.<br>"He's been gone for a week Ky. I think this time…I feel like this time it's for good." I mumbled.  
>I looked back up at the grave which was now clear of everyone except Karen. She was sitting on the ground and I could almost sense that she was talking to Kenny.<br>The sun was just sinking below the horizon. Once, back in 5th grade, Kenny told me this was his favourite time of day. He'd said it made it feel like everything would be alright. I usually watched it with him, but that I night I hadn't. I had been helping Stan set up for games night at his house and had lost track of time.  
>As the sun completely disappeared below the horizon I whispered the last thing I had ever said to him.<br>"Everything's going to be alright, I promise."


End file.
